How Can I Prevent Prevent Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?
Baby bottle tooth decay in infants, also known as early childhood caries, can be minimized or totally prevented by not allowing sleeping infants to breast, bottle-feed, or use sippy cups. Infants that need a bottle to comfortably fall asleep should be given a water-filled bottle or a pacifier. Another major cause of early childhood caries is the over use of sippy cups with sugar containing drinks such as fruit juices, sugar containing flavored water drinks, and sports drinks. Many times we find parents have not been given proper dietary counseling prior to their first dental appointment. We encourage parents to limit the use of bottles or sippy cups containing drinks with sugars. We recommend that your child receive a healthy balanced diet of fruits and vegetables. However, we strongly encourage the limitation of fruit or other sugar containing juices. These are usually marketed very effectively as healthy while research is showing they are major contributors to early childhood decay a
